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///M3 Forum The BMW E46 ///M3 is the M version E46 and puts out an amazing 333 HP and 262 lb-ft of torque at stock specs! There are an amazing amount of modifications for both the coupe and convertible models so read up and get started modifying your cars today!

Hey guys,
Quick question.....my car for the third time today popped out of third gear.....it seems to happen when im decelerating in third at about 1900-2000 rpm.....has anyone experienced this before? my car has a ac schnitzer SSk, so can it be attributed to that perhaps????

I'd be somewhat concerned also. It would be worthwhile to get someone who knows the shifter mechanism to look at the SS installation. It's possible it's not installed correctly and is exerting force on the shifter when in 3rd.

As Mark said - it's also possible it's a synchro problem (although those usually exhibit themselves when putting the car into gear, not after it's in gear), or a bent or worn shift fork. In either case - the problem here is there are no parts available for these transmissions.. the fix is to swap it out for a rebuilt one from BMW which is up in the megabucks region.

It could be the synchro's or it can also be the cold weather or may possibly also need a fluid change.

Does this happen mainly when the car is cold?

One other question, may sound stupid but it's possible. Do you keep your hand on the shifter? and are you sure you fully engage it in third gear? This used to happen to me in third as well until i realized then when having it in third gear and hitting the gas i would unconciously be putting slight pressure on the shift lever and made it pop out of gear.

BTW - your registration lists a 330ci "M Sport" (whatever that is..) if it's a 330ci - it uses a different transmission and I believe parts are available for it. It will probably help if you actually post in the correct forum for your car.. if it isn't an M3 - this isn't where you'll get good answers.

it may be something as simple as Tranny mounts.. did you upgrade those when you put in the SSK?.. it's likely that if you didnt upgrade, they could be indeed causing the problem.. and that'd be an easy fix

This problem has only happened three times, and you know what I think what FABIO said is quite accurate.....cause all three times after it popped out i realized by hand on the shifter....im hoping this is the problem....since i usually do hold onto the shifter when i shift into third

ALso, another reason i think its the above reason, would be why wouldnt it happen in any other gear and only third???

Quote:

Originally Posted by FABIO

It could be the synchro's or it can also be the cold weather or may possibly also need a fluid change.

Does this happen mainly when the car is cold?

One other question, may sound stupid but it's possible. Do you keep your hand on the shifter? and are you sure you fully engage it in third gear? This used to happen to me in third as well until i realized then when having it in third gear and hitting the gas i would unconciously be putting slight pressure on the shift lever and made it pop out of gear.

This problem has only happened three times, and you know what I think what FABIO said is quite accurate.....cause all three times after it popped out i realized by hand on the shifter....im hoping this is the problem....since i usually do hold onto the shifter when i shift into third

ALso, another reason i think its the above reason, would be why wouldnt it happen in any other gear and only third???

Glad i was able to give a little insight. Try to pay attention next time (if there is a next time, hopefully not) it happens as to where your hands were and make sure to push it fully in gear.

It hasn't happened to me in months, and i tried really hard to make it pop out of gear on purpose but i couldn't get it to pop out so i'm happy.

OO and just to answer your question above, it could be the third gear synchro's. Not all the synchro's go bad and from what little i know each gear has it's own synchro's. So it would be possible for just third gear to pop out if it were the 3rd gear synchro's but we hope that's not the case.